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A brand new auto loan may hurt your score because it decreases the overall average age of the accounts on your credit report. For example, if you have 5 accounts that are 10 years old, your AAoA is 10 years. But if you get a new loan then the AAoA will drop, which may in turn cause your score to drop.

Debt to income ratio does not affect your credit score because your income is not a factor in your score - none of the 3 major credit reporting agencies track it. DTI matters to potential lenders, though - that's why they ask for you to state your income on a credit app. And that's why there is generally a lot more to getting credit than just your score. Any kind of major loan or mortgage is usually reviewed in multiple contexts - lenders look at all of your credit history, the amounts you've previously borrowed, your income, how long you've been at your job, whether you rent or own a home, some creditors even look at what you buy and where you live - which has stirred up a lot of debate about racial/ethnic profiling and discrimination being built into the system.

What also greatly matters on your credit report is utilization. If you have 5 credit cards each with a $2,000 limit and carry a $1,900 balance on each card, your score will take a massive hit because your utilization is nearly 100%. There is no exact number on ideal utilization, but a lot of people who research the FICO scoring model have found that a utilization of no more than 20% is ideal, otherwise your score starts to drop. Utilization is only based on revolving lines of credit, IE - credit cards with set limits. Installment loans and mortgages aren't factored in.

All of that said, the more aged, active accounts you have the better. The more 2+ year old open accounts you have in a good standing, the less of a risk you appear to be. People with 800+ scores often have 4 or 5 credit cards that have been open for 10 or even 20 years, each. Ideally speaking, you should pay off your 5 year loan in 5 years. That's the kind of consistency that a lender traditionally likes to see. If they see a lot of refis or early payoffs then they might be less willing to work with you because they see less money for them, in the form of interest paid over a shortened term vs. the full term of the loan. But these days it's fairly easy to get a good auto loan provided you have a good credit history. Car makers and their financial arms are desperate for business. Things are tougher in the world of credit cards, though. A lot of people with strong histories are having their credit card limits cut or the cards entirely terminated because the banks are super paranoid about the risk.